What to know to apply before this week’s deadline

Our goals remain steadfast.

Visa CMO Frank Cooper III told me last week that he sees the overlap between brand and reputation as almost complete. The whole idea of purpose doesn’t have to be solving all the world’s problems. It can be simple, like convenience in order to give people back more time in their day. A brand’s role is to improve our lives. Otherwise, why are you here? And brands have to be able to express that. It’s not so much about “brand purpose,” but that a brand is the expression of a company’s purpose.

A brand is a means, not the end, and the best brands are not only consistently improving their product or how they communicate with their audience, but also how they can serve a larger purpose in culture.
In that context, Brands That Matter is our way of recognizing the brands that are doing that best, across a wide variety of industries and company sizes.

Sound like you and your brand? If so, we want to hear from you! The application deadline is rapidly approaching: April 21. All applicants across each category will be judged on relevancy, cultural impact, ingenuity, and business impact. To give you the best shot, we’re sharing a bit more about how to put together a stellar application, and what we’re looking for in the entries.

CATEGORIES

There are 30 categories this year, with new lists including Pets, Luxury, and Home. Of course, many brands can fit into multiple categories, and we encourage you to apply as many times as you think gives you the best chance.

The goal is to tell our panel of judges why your brand matters by telling the story of its work and results over the past year. This is’t a lifetime achievement award, but we do take historical context into consideration, just as we also recognize that the measuring stick for a new startup is different from that for a multinational corporation. The important thing is to really tell us about your brand’s impact.

RELEVANCY

Tell us what your customers get from you that they don’t from anyone else in the marketplace. What are you most proud to be known for? We want to know about the connection you have built with your audience, how that relationship has evolved over the last year, and how your audience expresses its support for your brand mission.

CULTURAL IMPACT

We want to know about the positive impact your brand has had on your industry, and the culture at large. Tell us about the work you’ve done that has influenced, impacted, or informed culture. This can range from pop culture, entertainment, and tech to how your company’s brand mission connects to larger societal issues.

INGENUITY

We want to give credit to projects that exist at every stage of completion. While we do ask that entries be limited to brand actions in the past 12 months, those projects, strategies, or ideas can range from conceptual to just-launched to fully operational, as long as they’re bold, new, and innovative.

BUSINESS IMPACT

This is where the rubber meets the road. We want to see the numbers, data, and performance indicators that demonstrate how your unique approach has affected your business, industry, and product category. The key is to share not just what your brand is doing to sell more product or connect with the culture, but also the metrics that prove how you are increasing revenue, winning hearts and minds, or other data that help illuminate your brand’s success.

The Brands That Matter ranking will reach millions of readers, and our hope is that we can support the growth of positive brand innovation by celebrating the best examples.

Winners will be featured in the November 2023 issue of Fast Company, as well as on FastCompany.com. Apply now!